Expect the Unexpected
by shannyfish
Summary: Felicity is kidnapped and she's rescued in an unlikely way and by people she doesn't expect.
1. Aftermath

"_The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step." – Lao-Tzu_

. . .

The letters on the wall were foreign to her.

They looked like they belonged on the little white Chinese food to-go boxes that sometimes littered the table at the Foundry when they were having dinner in. It was dark and Felicity had no idea where she was going. She really didn't see her getting where she needed… They were going to find her… And all she could think was…

Oliver would never find her.

Was she in Chinatown? Was she in China? Japan? Korea? Somewhere else? She had no idea. She'd been drugged and she had no idea how long she'd been gone. She was in a city somewhere foreign was all that she knew.

She was clothed in pajamas, a camisole and pajama shorts, and her feet were bare. She'd been careful as she'd run along the streets. Her feet hurt, but she was fairly sure it was mainly because of the ground rather than her actually having stepped on something like glass shards.

Felicity stopped at a market, or at least she was fairly sure it was a market without perfect vision. She was about to run out and try to find help when she was grabbed from behind. She was thrown back against a wall before she realized that there was no escape. It had been a miracle that she'd been able to escape before, but now…now she wasn't going anywhere. There were four men standing around her and she was fairly certain that none of them were happy.

"Please," she pleaded. "I just want to go home."

. . .

They spoke in a language that she didn't understand, which made it harder when they attempted to communicate with her. Felicity was fairly sure that they knew English, but they just refused to use it. It was probably their excuse for mistreating her…and the others…

Human trafficking.

That's why she was there…why they all were there, she believed. It made sense; everyone she'd seen was beautiful and young… There were a few men, but far more women. The men were also good looking and young. They were all terrified.

Felicity was terrified.

Starling City was still recovering from Slade's men and their destruction of the city… The Glades were still half destroyed. It made sense, even though she hated that fact, that they could take people from Starling and not raise flags immediately. There was so much to rebuild. People weren't showing up for jobs on a daily basis…

Today was supposed to be her day to just have to herself.

It only made tears fill her eyes as she sat in the dark corner of the cramped and crowded room. It smelled like sweat, she could sense the fear, and sobs filled her ears. Oliver and Diggle wouldn't be looking for her, not until tomorrow…or at least she thought it would be tomorrow… Would they even know where to look? Have leads?

Normally, she wouldn't have left her place so late at night, but they'd used a small child and woman in their ploy. Felicity had no idea how either could work in luring people in that kind of business, but then…sometimes you just didn't have a choice. She'd been the only one to open her front door when she'd heard the screams…

. . .

THE DAY BEFORE

She'd been about to shove a spoon into the pint of ice cream when screams caught her attention. Felicity had picked up her phone and had looked out her window, she'd been able to see that there was something going on right out in front of her place, but she hadn't been able to see what exactly.

Was it something that required the police? Did she need to call Oliver or Diggle? Could she just scare them off by opening her front door? She was certain that the police was overtaxed with the aftermath of Slade Wilson and she also knew that the dispatcher would ask her for information. If she didn't have any to give, then who knew how they'd prioritize it?

So, she slowly opened her door. Her phone was firmly in her hand as she ventured out. She looked around. No one else had come out. Only her. She knew that people were still terrified after everything that happened and probably didn't feel safe, but how could you stand by why someone was being attacked or worse? Felicity just couldn't.

Several feet away was a woman being beaten on by a man dressed in black, a little girl screaming for someone to help her mother. The girl couldn't be older than six or seven; she looked a lot like she lived on the streets. That didn't matter to Felicity, no one deserved to be beaten or terrorized like that man was doing to the woman and her scared child.

"Stop!" Felicity yelled.

He didn't even seem phased by her. He just pushed the woman into the street and onto the ground and then started to kick her. The child's voice rose to almost a shrill. Felicity raised her hand, looking down at her phone; she was about to dial when she was attacked from behind. She hadn't seen anyone else. He had an arm pulled behind her back, her phone falling to the ground and clattering across the pavement in front of her place. Felicity let out a scream and noticed that the beating stopped. She struggled against the man's hold and screamed for help, but knew that it was unlikely that any of her neighbors would leave the comfort or safety of their homes to assist her. She'd be lucky if they even put in a call to the police. The other man started to approach her and the child just ran to her mother, at least Felicity assumed it was her mother. Was it all a ploy? How—

Felicity was still struggling against the hold of the man who had snuck up on her. The other man seemed to study her, tore her glasses from her face, and threw them away. He grabbed her hair and moved her head side to side. He seemed pleased, but then all she saw was darkness a moment later.

. . .

PRESENT

She didn't know anything.

Felicity hated not knowing anything. She hated having absolutely no control over a situation and especially over her own life. She'd worked so hard through the years to cut out a piece of a future for her, one that had once seemed like just a silly dream that was absolutely unreachable for a girl who grew up in Las Vegas and her mother being a mere waitress. Felicity had wanted to talk to the others, try to comfort some of them…but she'd convinced herself that making herself stand out wasn't going to help her. She was certain that the guards were already keeping an eye on her because of her escape…she didn't need more attention brought to herself.

Her head turned upward and she stared at the dark ceiling. She closed her eyes a moment later and let the tears roll down her face. She pictured the night sky, stars in the sky and smiled a little at the thought. She'd remembered the last time she'd seen Oliver and Diggle and how they'd talked about the stars.

What would they think had happened to her?

Were they looking yet?

Would they find her?

Could she even hope for that?

. . .

THE DAY BEFORE

"What's wrong?"

She giggled and then looked over at him. "Nothing!"

"Do you have beers hidden in the Foundry that we don't know about?" Diggle teased with a smile.

Felicity shook her head. "Like there's any place to hide anything in that new place… It's a disaster, by the way…" She paused for a moment. After everything, it was sometimes hard to remember that there was still hope for the future when she looked around at the broken city, but she knew there was.

Every time she looked at Oliver, it confirmed those thoughts.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

Her smiling had to have been contagious because now Oliver was smiling just as much as she was. She looked up again. "It seems like the stars are so much brighter tonight…and beautiful…and maybe like there's about a hundred more."

"You could see so many more on Lian Yu," Oliver said.

She turned and looked to see that Oliver was looking up as well. It made her even better about how excited she was about the stars. She had to be happy about things, right? It was good for her…for them… They walked towards their cars and then Felicity realized that Oliver was walking with them and he wasn't leaving. He was sleeping in the new Foundry. "I thought you were staying?" she questioned as she stared in his direction. "Or are you finally taking one of our offers of sleeping on a couch?"

Oliver stopped and smiled. "I just thought I'd walk you out…get some air…"

"You sure? I still have a couch you could crash on…has to be better than the cot—"

"The cot is overly comfortable," Oliver countered.

"Can't ever let us forget that you got way too used to sleeping on the ground on that island," Diggle said. Felicity could hear amusement in his voice. "I'll see you two tomorrow…"

"No," Felicity countered. "We have tomorrow off. Tomorrow is a mental holiday… I'm pretty sure it's one that's well deserved and needed by all three of us before we really dive into all of the problems and obstacles we're going to be facing in order to rebuild the city, the Foundry, and get Queen Consolidated back."

Diggle let out a sigh. "Definitely well deserved."

She watched as Diggle got into his car before she turned back to Oliver. Felicity really hated that he was isolating himself and was technically homeless. They all needed their space and she knew that Oliver was used to having that space, but still. It didn't sit well with her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah… You go…"

"I have some frozen stuff… It's not a lot, but there's that and a couch and good company!"

That seemed to cheer him up. He laughed. "Normally, I would take you up on that kind offer… I would LOVE to eat frozen dinners with you and talk about things…well, that we've never talked about—"

"I was talking about watching movies, but we could talk too," she told him quickly with a bright smile. "I have electricity…luckily…now if they'd just fix my internet… I mean, I know that it's really not a huge priority…but it's sort of nice to check my e-mail… And my phone, well-"

"I would have happily watched a movie with you, too, Felicity…"

How he said her name…

Felicity felt herself tearing up a bit. She knew that was silly and she blinked them back. Her heart was still a little torn from him taking back that he loved her. Of course, he'd not really taken it back when she'd put it out there for him to do so… She still remembered the look on his face as they stood on the shore of Lian Yu. He'd been smiling and the more she thought about everything…the more she believed that the admission had been real.

She'd known Oliver for a bit over two years now.

When they'd first met, all that he'd done was lie to her. She'd trusted him then, she didn't know why still. It was Oliver, she just had. They had this connection, even then, that she just couldn't understand. She'd always known when Oliver was lying, when they were standing in the foyer of Queen Mansion…dark, lifeless, and barren…his 'I love you' had been the most honest thing possibly spoken within those walls in some time. He'd been so filled with emotion and she knew…she knew why, but still…

She knew Oliver.

She knew when he was lying.

He hadn't been lying.

Here they were. They were acting like things were back to normal and honestly, she was okay with that. Neither of them were really ready to even think about truly starting a relationship. How could they? They had so much to do! There was so much to rebuild! She could be content…happy…with how things were.

It came down to the fact that not only did Oliver Queen love her, but he treated her with the respect of a partner. At what had seemed like the end of the world, he'd given her the choice to do more than hide away or be a damsel in distress. She'd played a vital role in bringing down Slade Wilson. She'd helped save the city and it hadn't been from in front of a computer in the broken Foundry under Verdant. It had been on the front lines and they'd all deceived Slade Wilson in order to do it. Really, she couldn't ask for anything more beautiful from Oliver.

Trust was everything.

"You're sure?" she asked again.

"I'll tell you what, if I get lonely…I'll come by…" he offered. "If the offer still stands tomorrow?"

"Will you be in this," she said as she motioned to his workout attire. "Or your suit?"

"Do you have a preference?" he teased for a moment. Oliver grinned at her as he paused before speaking once again. "I think the hood needs the take a break too…just for a little bit."

Felicity nodded slowly. "Maybe…but this city still needs you…"

"I know."

She opened her car door, set her purse inside, and then looked back at him standing there. "And I still believe in you," Felicity whispered.

. . .

PRESENT

They didn't even say anything, at least not that Felicity had registered, before they'd come in and just started to pull people from the room. She'd been amongst those removed. They were all women, about five in all, and they were taken in the same direction down the hall. They were all brought into the same room and from what Felicity saw; it was in order to be groomed.

It was bad enough to think about human trafficking, but then Felicity started to think of the reasons why people were taken…what they were used for once they were sold… It made her want to throw up and it drove her to the point of wanting to become hysterical and break down right there… It wasn't like it was really a revelation, it was just that she'd kept telling herself that even if she didn't believe that Oliver or Diggle would find her, they'd still do it.

There were women in that room that were Asian, she was fairly sure that was a term you could use to generalize. They seemed submissive and were all on the other side of the room as the guards barked their orders before pulling the door shut behind them. Felicity realized that she was having trouble breathing; panic was hitting her even though she was really trying not to panic.

It wasn't going to get her anywhere.

Closing her eyes, she focused on breathing in and breathing out.

A gentle hand was on her arm and she jumped slightly as her eyes flew open and she stumbled backwards. It was just one of the women who seemed to be wanting to take care of her. Felicity really didn't want to be taken care of. She wanted to be left alone and she wanted to go home.

"Please," the woman pleaded. English was obviously not her first language, but she said it clearly enough for Felicity to understand. The woman was shaking and seemed to be nearly as terrified as the rest of them.

Nodding, Felicity finally went with the woman. She zoned out though as the woman sat her down after making her change into a thin white dress, it was barely enough to cover her body and thin enough fabric for nothing to be left up to the imagination. That was it, no undergarments. The woman sat her down and used a sponge to slowly wash her before tending to her hair. She didn't do anything special with it; she just brushed it and parted it. It was parted down the middle, which wasn't how she normally wore it, but Felicity didn't really think there was in point in arguing that with the woman. It didn't matter.

"Pretty," the woman spoke once more.

Felicity just stared off at nothing. She just waited, the woman sitting nearby at her side. She didn't know what to think or feel. She wasn't numb, but…how did you describe fighting hysteria? How did you describe that state of being? That's where Felicity was…

. . .

She didn't know why they had decided to shoot them up right before they were removed. Did they think that it made them less emotional? More compliant? It just made things so much blurry for her and made her feel like she'd drank a few too many. Felicity also was still feeling a lot queasy from the actual sight of the needle, let alone watching it puncture her skin before injecting her with God knew what.

They were in a different room now. It seemed like a hallway that had lights that were far too bright above their heads as they stood in a line and a man in a foreign language spoke. Felicity was fairly sure though that there were people on the other side of the black glass that they were facing. It appeared almost mirrored to them, but she knew it wasn't really a mirror, that jut didn't make sense.

Her legs felt ready to give, but she managed to stay upright. Felicity didn't know if it was pure will or just the fact that she was too terrified to cross them again. They hadn't hurt her before, but what if she screwed up again? Maybe they wouldn't care about selling her…

It felt like hours that they stood there under those hot lights, she was sweating and the white fabric clung to her skin. She was certain that it only made it all the more transparent. So, when the door opened and guards marched in, Felicity was actually relieved. They were leaving, they had to be. A hand took her arm firmly and led her out of the long, narrow room.

She watched in almost a confused state as she was separated from the other women that had been lined up with her. It wasn't until she'd entered the next room that she realized what this meant. The room was well furnished and had low lighting. It almost looked like a back room in a club.

She'd been sold.

Felicity was guided to the couch, where she finally collapsed. She didn't care anymore. She didn't know if it was the lack of hope or if she could blame whatever drugs were in her system, but she couldn't hold on anymore. The floodgates were unleashed and tears flooded her face. Sobs racked her chest and lungs. Felicity hadn't thought that anything could be more terrifying than Slade Wilson holding the blade of a sword to her throat and saying that he was going to kill her.

This was more terrifying.

There was a click as the door was opened. There was a woman's voice that seemed to speak in the same language that everyone else spoke. Felicity still didn't know which that was… She didn't look up; even if she had…her vision was blurred more than just with the lack of prescription lenses. The door shut again and she tensed up completely.

What would happen to her now?

The woman spoke again. Felicity didn't understand. She wondered if the woman knew that. Did she know that Felicity had been kidnapped? She had to, right? That this wasn't where she belonged?

"Shh…" another voice, another woman cooed and Felicity felt the couch shift as additional weight was added to it.

It was so odd to be taken into the arms of someone who had bought her up and gently folded her within the safety of their arms. She'd expected a man… She'd expected to be hit or something for being so upset… She hadn't expected comfort…or kindness… Right now, that was what she was labeling what was going on.

"You're safe now," the second woman whispered.

The voice…

It wasn't that the woman sounded sincere or kind. It wasn't the honesty that were in her words. It wasn't even that it was clear from just the sound of her words that English was in fact, her native language. It was that that voice was familiar. It was a voice that she hadn't expected to hear.

"Sara?" she cried out.

Was she hallucinating?

Was it really Sara Lance all the way in…where was she?

"You're going to be safe now," Sara assured as her face came into focus once she pulled away. Her hand caressed Felicity's cheek and she was smiling at her.

"That means…Nyssa?" Felicity put together a moment later and then was conscious of slurring her words. It was really getting harder not to feel like she was drunk WITH a hangover.

"Yes," Nyssa replied from behind Sara. "We should leave."

"Can you walk?" Sara questioned.

Felicity stared at her and for a moment had thought that she'd replied, but then shook her head all too slowly. She'd had a hard enough time keeping herself upright before. There was no way now with how she was feeling.

"You're safe," Sara whispered to her again as Felicity's eyes started to close.

She knew it was the truth.

. . .

When Felicity woke, she was in a bed and she was confused by her surroundings. She started to move and then realized she wasn't in the clothes she last remembered being in either. She'd been changed. Slowly, she brought herself up into a sitting position and just stared down at the sheets that seemed too good for a room that belonged to the League of Assassins.

At least, that's what she last remembered.

League of Assassins.

Sara.

Nyssa.

So, she assumed that's still where she was and they just weren't right there. Felicity groaned a bit as she cradled her head in her hands. She definitely felt like she had a hangover, it wasn't the mild kind either. Felicity wasn't sure what they'd drugged her with, but she didn't want to try that again…ever. She was okay with sticking to caffeine, that could be her drug of choice.

The door opened and Felicity was relieved that it was Sara and Nyssa. At least she knew them and at least she knew they spoke English. They both seemed to be in good spirits as they approached her and Felicity was still a bit overwhelmed by everything that had happened. "How did you find me?" Felicity found herself asking before anything else.

"We were lucky," Sara commented as she sat on the bed, facing Felicity. "And I'm glad we were…" She reached out and brushed some of the hair away from Felicity's face. "I'm sure that Oliver and Digg are worried sick about you."

"You haven't talked to them?"

She was a little shocked by that, but she supposed that she really didn't know all the facts. This was the first time she'd been to Nanda Parbat and the League of Shadows compound…whatever it was called. For all she knew, they didn't have cell towers or internet. Perhaps the League of Assassins were like the Amish…except more like ninjas and all about killing people…and the Amish bit only came in handy when they were at their home base. Or maybe not. Maybe you had to hike somewhere to make calls. She didn't know, all Felicity knew was that she wanted to make sure that Oliver and Diggle knew that she was okay.

"Welcome to Nanda Parbat," Nyssa told her.

"We'll have to wait until we can head into a city before I can use my phone to call Oliver," Sara explained.

Felicity just nodded. "How long?"

"We have to have permission from my father, he is still not happy with my choice to bring you here," Nyssa explained. "You and I may not know each other, but Sara assures me that you'll keep our secrets."

"I'm good at keeping secrets," Felicity said quickly.

Nyssa reached out and ran a finger through her blonde hair, the deadly assassin just a foot away from her. "Good… You're going to need that here…"

Felicity wasn't too thrilled that it sounded like she was going to be there a lot longer than she'd prefer, but at least there was the fact that she was safe. "How was finding me luck?" she asked and looked from Nyssa to Sara. Maybe it was a stupid question, but she wanted to know. "And what about the others? There were others…"

"We bought you, well Nyssa did," Sara explained. "We attend those kind of sales when we know that we are able to make a…purchase…"

"Things are very…delicate in this region," Nyssa spoke up a moment later. "If we did not have to watch what enemies we make so close to…home, then I would have taken down that human trafficking ring long ago…"

It made Felicity sick, but she was still thankful for the rescue even if they had to pay for her. "What normally happens when you buy someone?" she asked curiously.

"We give them a choice… We can take them home or bring them back here," Sara spoke up.

"Most would risk ending back up taken once again if they were to return home," Nyssa filled in. "Most choose to join us here… Some learn to fight—"

"Some work in the kitchen or by cleaning…doing laundry… They're kept safe," Sara finished.

Felicity just nodded slowly. "What does that mean for me?"

"If anyone asks, you belong to me," Nyssa told her.

"Belong?" Felicity questioned. "Like property or like…" She knew that Nyssa and Sara were together, or had been, and she assumed together again because well…they were together. "Like in bed together…" Felicity said slowly. This only seemed to amuse both Nyssa and Sara. "I had hoped that your faces would tell me the answer to my question, but I'm still confused," she admitted.

"Just tell them that you belong to me, they'll understand."

"But…shouldn't I understand?" Felicity questioned.

Sara just smiled at her. "How would you feel about Nyssa and I teaching you some self defense while you're here?"

"Really?" Felicity asked and brightened so much more. Was it wrong that all she could think was this was her kind of girls' night? Well, it was more like camp…like extended sleep away camp… She'd always wanted to go to camp… It hit her that two years ago, this would have been so crazy…a girls' night would have consisted of getting her nails done and eating ice cream while watching a chick flick. Oliver had changed all of that.

"If you desire to learn, then we will instruct you," Nyssa said rather matter of factly. "We can begin today…"

"You use a bow…and I've seen Sara shoot one…so you both know how to use one…weld one? Anyways! Do I get lessons for shooting arrows too? Or is it just trying to keep myself from getting kidnapped the next time a human trafficking ring hits Starling City and targets me?"

Sara just shook her head and smiled. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Felicity told Sara and then turned to Nyssa. "And you too, even though we really don't know each other..."

. . .

Spending time in the League of Assassins refuge flew by. Maybe it was because she'd spent the whole time with Sara and Nyssa. The first night that she wasn't drugged was interesting. She hadn't expected to be sleeping in the same bed as Sara and Nyssa, but they had explained that it was part of keeping her safe and something about Nyssa's claim. It was a little awkward the first hour, but she'd felt so safe…

"I could get used to life like this," Felicity whispered as she lay in bed a bit longer. Sara and Nyssa were already up and moving. She sat up and watched them. "I mean, I get fed…and it's definitely not going to make me fat…and even if it were, all the sweating I do during the day…I'm pretty sure that burn way more than I actually consume. I'm not sure that's healthy…but so far…I'm not going to complain… I'm just you know, stating things…"

"Does that mean that you wish to remain with us?" Nyssa asked.

"Uh…" Felicity mumbled before letting her mouth hang open for a moment. She was thankful, of course, they'd even somehow found contacts with her proper prescription. That made training with Sara and Nyssa even easier because you could actually see… "I just—I mean I'm grateful, but I—and killing—and I'm definitely not League of Assassins material… I mean do you remember when I fell off of that beam thing last week? I think I've found new ways to kill yourself on your own while running that obstacle course… Like I don't need someone chasing after me with a sword or a dagger or arrows flying the air… I can accomplish it all on my own."

Sara laughed. "You'd get the hang of it eventually, it takes time…and you haven't been here that long…"

"The killing—"

"The killing is something that you can never get used to," Sara said slowly and quietly. Felicity noticed a change in her face. She wondered how it worked now for Sara and Nyssa and being in Nanda Parbat. She was part of the League of Assassins again, right? Or was Sara like a housewife? Or did she train? Felicity wasn't sure, but she knew that Sara had said that she couldn't kill anymore…and she'd heard her when she'd broken up with Oliver. Sara had felt like she was a toxic darkness and that made Felicity sad to think that Sara felt that way. But Nyssa seemed to make her happy… "It darkens your heart and slowly eats away at your soul…"

"Not all of us are so melodramic about it," Nyssa chimed in.

"You were born the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, you had no choice in your life but to be this," Sara reminded gently.

Felicity got up from the bed and moved to where the clothes that they'd designated as hers were and started to change. She was excited; today was the day that she was actually going to get to train with weapons. The bow was what she was most looking forward to.

"I seem to spark all kinds of awkward discussions…" Felicity mumbled.

"You do no harm," Nyssa told her. She was already dressed and looking far too fabulous for an international assassin.

"I don't want either of you to ever regret your decision to save me," she told them as she pulled her shirt down and looked towards them. She knew that they could have saved any life at the 'event' and they chose to save her. Yes, Sara knew her, but they didn't have to do it. Nyssa had been in charge and she could have told Sara 'no'. In the end, she knew that she was more than lucky for the way things had turned out.

Nyssa and Sara both approached her. Sara pulled her into a hug and Felicity had to admit, she really appreciated the hugging. She held onto Sara and Nyssa ran her hand through Felicity's hair, it wasn't up in a ponytail quite yet. "That's something we'll never regret…" Sara whispered. "Women should not suffer at the hands of men…and believe me, we know what suffering you would have endured…"

"We are happy we were there when we were," Nyssa added.

"Come on," Sara said a moment later and pulled away from Felicity. "Let's get the hair up and get out to training."

Before Felicity could do it herself, Nyssa was already taking care of her hair for her. "I still don't understand how you two can run around and be all badass with your hair flying everywhere… I mean, you two are obviously gorgeous and awesome, but that one strand of my hair got loose the other day and I almost killed myself when I tumbled over that obstacle because it got in my eye."

"You'll learn," Sara told her. "Being a woman and being strong has its advantages…"

"Men normally underestimate you," Nyssa added.

"Well, and I've seen you two in full gear… They're really not looking at your weapons or your faces when they're first meeting you," Felicity said as she motioned to her chest. "They're really all frat boys…"

"Here, we are not underestimated, but that keeps us strong… You will learn."

"But, we're going to get to call Oliver soon, right?"

"Soon," Nyssa echoed.

Felicity saw the look on Sara's face; she'd briefly looked in Nyssa's direction but then had pressed a smile forward. She really wasn't sure what to think about that. She didn't think that Sara would keep her held there against her will, not just because… So, she just had to assume that there was League of Assassins politics going on that she just didn't know about.

Once her hair was up high in a ponytail, Felicity nodded. "Okay, let's go and do this…and I'll try really hard not to injure anyone…"

"Don't worry, I'll bring the first aid kit," Sara teased.

"I would really rather not learn the League of Assassins' course in stitching yourself up, especially without drugs…not the kind they gave me before, but like the kind that Diggle gave me when you sewed me up that one time, Sara."

. . .

TBC…


	2. Emotional and Out Of Control

_"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage". - Lao Tzu._

. . .

"You know, she's probably fine."

"How can you be so calm about this?!"

"How can you be so out of control and emotional about it?"

Oliver turned and stared Diggle down. "It's Felicity!" he snapped angrily before he really realized what he was saying and what he was basically admitting to. He ran his fingers along his scalp through his short hair.

Lance had been the one to alert the Arrow of her disappearance. The police had been called out. They'd found Felicity's phone and glasses out in front of her place. That was it. None of her neighbors had seen or heard anything helpful or at least they weren't telling. On top of that, there was no surveillance in the area. So, they basically had nothing.

"It's been WEEKS!"

"I know," Diggle said with a sigh and walked towards him. "Look, one of us has to be calm… And as much as I hate that we have nothing to follow up on, I know…we know…Felicity. She's our girl and she's strong… She's going to find a way to contact us. We just have to have faith."

"I had faith once…" he whispered. He thought about the island and how he'd thought that he wouldn't be gone from home for too long. He had had faith that he'd get home to Laurel… That wasn't how it had all gone. He was a better person because of it and in all honesty now, knowing how his life would turn out…even with all the lies and loss…he would happily still choose that same path. If he hadn't been on Lian Yu and spent five years away from home, he wouldn't have become the Arrow and wouldn't have ever met Felicity.

He didn't realize how much she'd affected his life until she wasn't there.

Slade had threatened her life…and he'd known that he'd get there in time, that Slade wouldn't hurt her… But this was Felicity. She was the woman that he'd been striving not to get close to, but she'd snuck into his heart and completely taken over just the same. He understood what Diggle was saying, but he didn't know how not to be emotional… If he didn't know and hadn't had ARGUS triple check on Slade, he would have sworn that this was Slade fulfilling his promise…

What was worse than not knowing?

Then assuming the worse?

"I love her," he confessed quietly and felt like he was going to break down. Besides Felicity, he knew that he could be himself in front of Diggle. The two of them just normally didn't go into talking about their feelings…

"I know," Diggle spoke up.

"She thinks I don't."

"She knows," Diggle emphasized both words.

"No, she doesn't," Oliver argued and was so angry with himself. "On Lian Yu… You gave us a moment… She kept saying that she knew that I didn't mean it…that she almost believed it…and I never corrected her…"

"Did you deny it?"

"I told her that we both sold it."

"You did," Diggle told him with confidence. "Because what you two have is real… It's just taken you two a lot longer to realize it…and in all honesty, she's too good for you."

Oliver automatically smiled in response and shook his head. "I know."

"And you're still working through stuff…and distractions… Do you want me to name them?"

"No," he said quickly as his smile disappeared. He looked towards where they'd set up the computers and he missed her even more as he stared where she should have been. "But I know…" Oliver actually wouldn't be surprised if Laurel was the first thing that Diggle said. He was right, though. On both accounts.

"We just have to try to find her…" Diggle said. "Maybe the Arrow should touch base with Lance."

"The police don't know anything new."

"You haven't talked to him in a week."

"He would have called—"

"Oliver, just do it."

Oliver sighed and nodded. "Okay, I'll reach out…" He didn't think that it would actually do any good, but he'd do it even if it were just to appease Diggle. He had to occupy his time someway. Roy wouldn't be coming in, so he wouldn't have to try to force himself to focus on his training…

. . .

"I've even tried reaching out to Sara. You haven't heard from her lately, have you? I mean, she and Nyssa…they're all in that League of Assassins…they have to have resources, right? I mean, they normally seem to be about killing people because they're bad people. I just have to hope that it's always BAD people," Lance went on. Oliver could tell that he seemed to try to be convincing himself. "But they have to have their ear to the ground in other markets, right?"

"I haven't heard from her," Oliver responded as the Arrow as they spoke on a rooftop.

"I check the hospitals everyday… Her picture is everywhere…"

"Thank you."

"We're going to find her."

"How are YOU feeling, Detective?" Oliver asked. He suddenly realized that he hadn't even asked. Without Sara around, he didn't really check in with her to see how the Lances were doing. He really hadn't had the time to talk to Laurel and in all honesty, he was doing his best to avoid her. It helped that she didn't know the location of the new Foundry.

"I'm fine," he brushed off. "Really… Laurel's always fussing over me. It's almost suffocating… She's been trying to get me to change my diet like I suffered from a heart attack… What kind of cruel punishment is that?"

Oliver smirked. "I'm sure it's because she cares about you."

"She does."

"I'll try to get in contact with Sara, if nothing else…to make sure she speaks with you."

"I appreciate that," Quentin replied. "And keep me in the loop… Felicity may not be my daughter, but I feel responsible for her like she's my own…"

Oliver nodded. Quentin Lance and Felicity had always had an odd relationship, but there was a connection there. Maybe it was because Felicity wasn't just his light…she was a light for everyone when they needed it. He remembered when Lance had briefly detained her…and then he'd let her go… He'd been the Hood then… She'd seen the good in him and though Lance was against him at the time, he'd quickly changed his point of view. Oliver had a feeling that that was all due to Felicity's influence over him.

"Thank you, Detective."

"Sure."

"No, I mean it… I wouldn't have known as soon about Felicity if you hadn't reached out," Oliver told him. He felt guilty about that even though he knew it really wasn't logical.

"She's lucky to have you as a friend."

"And you."

Quentin smirked at him. "I'm just a cop doing his job…you're the hero."

"You're wrong about that," Oliver told him as he stared off at the city. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "She's the real hero…" he whispered.

. . .

"You're losing it."

"I'm glad I wasn't the one who had to say it," Roy admitted.

Oliver turned towards both of them, full of anger. He really didn't think that he'd been THAT bad. He'd been searching everywhere for ANY lead. There were no leads to be found.

"I'm going…I'm going to go," Roy said quickly as he motioned towards the stairs. "Call me if it's safe to come back tomorrow," he shot to Diggle before hightailing it out of there.

"What's—"

His question was cut off by the sound of his own phone ringing. Diggle held it up. "You know, Roy went in here the other day and changed all the names and pictures of your phone and you never even noticed."

Oliver frowned and took the phone. There was a picture of a canary on it and instead of it reading as 'Sara Lance' it read 'Hot Canary'. He was not amused, though Diggle seemed overly entertained by it. "Hi."

"Hi."

The sound of her voice caught him by surprise. She wasn't cheery, she was quiet. She seemed calm, but almost a little sad. He wondered if she wanted to come home, if that was why she was calling. Even though Sara had made it clear to him that they couldn't have a relationship, he still cared deeply for her. He always would.

"Your dad was asking about you. Had hoped that I had heard from you. I told him that if I heard from you that I'd have you call him." Oliver knew that Detective Lance would probably feel even better with a call from Sara. He knew that he'd been so happy to have her come home, to let her return back with Nyssa to the League of Assassins and so far away had to be hard for him… Even knowing that Sara was alive and okay and even happy…

"Thanks," Sara responded and then paused for a long moment. "I will. " She paused once again, her voice still quiet when she spoke next. "He looks better, right? You're watching out for him?"

"Laurel's apparently trying to put him on some kind of a diet… He looked fine though. He's back to work. I'm sure that helps." He knew that he probably didn't sound chatty, but he wasn't. Nothing really mattered in his world right now.

"I'm sure."

"Not that I'm not glad to hear from you Sara, but—"

"I'm calling because I have information about Felicity," Sara finally told him.

There was silence on both sides of the call.

"What about Felicity?" Oliver finally asked after he felt like he could control his tone. He didn't want to get overly emotional or come off as overly hostile; he knew that that would just be a downward spiral.

"I can't tell you over the phone," Sara insisted. "We need to meet. Face to face."

"Sara—"

"I'm going to text you the coordinates along with a meeting day and time."

"Sara—"

"Ollie, just come."

He was thinking of about a million excuses why he couldn't come unless he told her exactly why he was going and what it had to do with Felicity. He realized that right now, it really didn't matter. It might be a lead. He didn't have any of those. "Fine."

"I'll see you soon."

A minute after he hung up, a text came through as Sara had promised. There was a set of coordinates along with a date in a week and a half with a time.

"Oliver?" Diggle spoke up.

"It was Sara—"

"I gathered that."

"What did she want?"

"She claims to have information on Felicity," Oliver said as he turned to look over at him. Diggle seemed surprised, Oliver was surprised.

She wanted him to go to China. He already knew that from the coordinates. All he knew was that it had to do with Felicity. She had information, but she had to give it to him face to face. He'd tried to press her for more, but Sara had been very tight lipped about it.

Was the information really so sensitive?

Was it bad news?

Did she feel like she needed to protect him because it was Felicity?

Sara wasn't blind after all; she'd known that he was trying to keep those feelings to himself to keep Felicity safe. Even though his past with Sara was certainly interesting, she hadn't held things against him. He appreciated that more than she probably knew.

Even if Sara had doubts about what kind of person she was, Oliver knew…like Felicity knew whom he was deep down. Oliver knew that he could trust Sara, no matter what. If she was in trouble, and that thought had crossed his mind, then he didn't care…if it was a trap…he'd help in any way he could like he knew she would do for him.

"Where are you going?" Diggle questioned as Oliver walked past him.

"China."

"China?"

"And it's going to take a hell of a lot longer than it used to," Oliver told him as he packed.

Things were so different.

Queen Consolidated wasn't his family's anymore. Felicity had insisted that they were going to find a way to get it back though. That was before she'd been taken. Before Felicity Smoak had just disappeared. A year ago, he would have just taken a Queen Consolidated jet to China on 'business'. It wasn't that easy anymore, but Oliver could manage.

"How?" Diggle questioned.

"Boat. Freighter. By foot. However I can," Oliver responded. "I'll figure it out."

"You mean WE will figure it out."

"No," Oliver said as he stopped shoving things into the backpack. He turned to Diggle, he knew that he cared about Felicity. They'd all been through so much together, they were a family. But this…he had to do this on his own. He couldn't risk Diggle, not now. "Just me."

"Oliver—"

"You need to be here for Lyla and your baby," he said all too calmly. "I don't know what's in China. Why we have to meet face to face…"

"It could be a trap—"

"And I KNOW that."

"Oliver, if this is REALLY about Felicity, then I WANT to be there… I want to help—"

"If it IS a trap, I can't have you in prison…or worse—"

"I can take care of myself."

"You're going to be a Dad, John. One hell of a dad…and I just can't risk it." Oliver was quiet for a moment. "If I get into trouble, I'll call you. I promise."

"I don't like this."

"You know how to track me."

"I still don't like this," Diggle told him firmly.

"Neither do I," he replied in all honesty. "But let's face it. I'm horrible to be around right now," he said as he turned to fully face Diggle. "Even if this is the smallest of leads, it's still a lead…and we all want Felicity home… I have to hope that it's something that's going to lead us to her."

. . .

The trip to China was actually quite calming for Oliver. He didn't know if it was the change in scenery or if it just felt like he was moving forward with things. Whatever it was, he felt better about everything because of it.

He happened to be in China a couple of days before the meeting and had taken the time to just recon the area in which he was supposed to meet Sara. It also gave him a chance to check in with the special markets in that area. China was no different than anywhere around the world, there were always black markets…and there were always shady and unthinkable things that went on right under the noses of the public around.

Drugs.

Gangs.

Prohibited items.

Human organs.

Sex rings.

And so much more…

No one wanted to think that it happened where they lived, but it did. You just had to know where to look. Oliver knew where to look. He'd even brought a picture of Felicity to show around at places that he felt could have information. No one there had any useful information for him though. Though, he was referred to a couple of places that dealt in human trafficking. Oliver hated to think that Felicity had been through that and that then she'd been sold to who knew what…and what they could possibly be doing to her right now…

It terrified him.

Felicity was innocent in some ways, but definitely sweet and adorable…intelligent, smart, determined…and so beautiful… He didn't want to think of what horrors could befall her if that was what Sara told him when they finally spoke.

Not her.

Not his Felicity.

. . .

"Why did I need to come all the way out here?"

Sara was silent at first as they stood in a dark alleyway. "I didn't think that you'd believe me, if you didn't see for yourself," she said finally. Her tone was calm, even, and quiet. "I need you to come with me to Nanda Parbat."

"Is this a trap?"

"No," she responded quickly and then seemed confused and almost hurt by his question. "Why would it be a trap?"

"Why did I need to come to China?" he countered.

"Because you wouldn't believe me if I told you that Felicity's alive…here…well, Nanda Parbat…if you couldn't see her for yourself," Sara said and then pulled out her cell phone and turned it towards Oliver as a video played. It was Felicity and Nyssa and they were eating and talking. They looked happy and Felicity looked very much alive.

"Why didn't you bring her with you?" he asked after a long pause. Oliver felt like the world was spinning. Felicity was alive…she was okay…she was safe… He hadn't expected to come to China and take Felicity home with him.

Sara sighed. "In all honesty, Ollie, I didn't know if you would show up." She paused. "I haven't even told Felicity that I called you. I didn't think that it would be good to get her hopes up…in case you didn't show."

"You left her with the League—"

"I left her with Nyssa."

Oliver really wasn't sure how to take that or how to feel. Felicity was alive and he was thankful and relieved and so…overwhelmed with emotions at the moment. The League of Assassins and Nyssa al Ghul, he still wasn't sure how to feel about them. They'd helped him and Starling City when Slade Wilson had threatened to destroy everything…but he didn't like the fact that Sara had to go back to the League because of it. He didn't like that. He felt responsible and felt that if Nyssa REALLY loved Sara then she wouldn't hold her like a prisoner.

"How long has she been here?"

"Weeks," Sara explained. "There's not exactly cell reception up there… I had to wait…for several reasons…"

He wanted to ask about the reasons, but he stopped himself. Right now, that didn't matter. Seeing Felicity and taking her home, that was all that mattered. "I should call Diggle—"

"How's he doing?" Sara asked curiously.

"He wasn't happy that I came alone," Oliver responded. "He wanted to come, but he's going to be a father. That's more important."

"Right," Sara said quickly and then bowed her head for a moment. "And you thought this might be a trap."

"Diggle thought it could be."

"I wouldn't betray you like that, Ollie."

"We were more on the wavelength that you might need our help rather than betraying us," Oliver tried to explain. He pulled out his phone and brought up Diggle's information. He needed to call him before he got out of range of cell towers so that Diggle didn't get worried and show up looking for him.

"The League wouldn't hurt me," she told him.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Nyssa."

They were both quiet for a long moment. Taking the time to really mull over what Sara had said. It came down to that Oliver just didn't feel like he could trust Nyssa or the League of Assassins. He didn't know if he could ever FULLY trust them.

He finally dialed the number and put the phone up to his ear. He had to talk to Diggle. Oliver was certain that Diggle would breathe a little easier to know that he'd not only made it to China alright, but that Felicity would be coming home with him as well. To know that Felicity was safe.

"Hey Man, things okay?"

"Things are great," Oliver said and realized that he sounded cheery. He normally wasn't cheery unless he was around Felicity. The thought of her though, it was affecting him…

"What did Sara say?"

"Sara and Nyssa have Felicity. She's safe. I'm going to be out of cell reception though. Where they have her isn't in the city. I just didn't want you to get on a boat to come rescue me," Oliver explained.

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure. I'll call you back before we leave China."

"Are you coming back the same way you went?" Diggle asked.

"I don't know yet."

"That might be better than the adventure to get to Lian Yu," Diggle commented.

Oliver was never going to forget how Felicity had to jump out of an airplane with Diggle in order to retrieve him from Lian Yu and bring him back to Starling City after Tommy died. "Maybe… I'll have to see if she's up for it."

"If not, I'll figure out a way to get you two home."

"Okay."

"Talk to you soon."

"Talk to you soon," Oliver echoed before ending the call. He stowed the phone into his pocket and then looked up at Sara. "I'm ready."

"It's a bit of a ways…"

"I'm used to it," he told her as he followed her down the alleyway.

Felicity was all he could think of.

. . .

TBC…


	3. Choices

Felicity didn't know what Sara was up to, all she knew was that she wouldn't be back until dinner. Sadly for Sara that meant that she was going to miss the soup that she liked so well because that was what they were going to have for lunch later.

Today was going to be interesting and most likely hard. That was mainly because it was her and Nyssa...Sara normally was a good buffer to keep Nyssa from pushing her too hard. Felicity appreciated that, but at the same time...she felt like she could be pushed a little more now. Even though she didn't know the language, she'd picked up a few words...Nyssa said she should learn...and she always knew when others were talking about her and it was normally in a conversation about how badly she was doing. She'd also picked up a few conversations, in which later she'd confirmed with Sara that they had suggested killing her because she was too weak.

Sara and Nyssa had just told her that this was her time to prove them wrong.

"You look worried."

Felicity snapped her attention to Nyssa. "What? ...no, no, no...I was just thinking...about how everyone's watching me again," she said slowly and softly as she looked around. Everyone else was dressed with a ninja and here she was in pretty much yoga workout clothes. At least it was something. She always felt like everyone was watching her and though she knew Nyssa would keep her safe, Sara was always the one that was on her side and understood things. She appreciated that.

"You are improving."

"But not fast enough for them," Felicity countered. "If I got attacked again-"

"You would do well enough to be able to escape their hold."

"There were two men, a woman, and a child working together," Felicity reminded her.

She watched as Nyssa's face turned into a disgusted one. This had already been the topic of conversation between Sara and Nyssa on how horrible it was that a woman /and/ child had been used as bait to lure her out and they were actually /involved/ in the ploy.

"Before you return to Starling City, I guarantee you, I will ensure that you're ready…" Nyssa vowed. There was silence between them for a moment. "You are stronger than you think." She paused again. "And I believe that you've been holding back."

"Definitely not holding back on that obstacle course thing… Me falling and my legs being bruised...definitely not for lack of trying to make it through that thing," Felicity told Nyssa as she motioned down to her legs. She actually really enjoyed the obstacle course, except when it was beating her up, it felt like she was doing something more than the repetitive training. She was just a lot better at it in her mind than she was in actually doing it.

"I still think you would be more successful if someone were pursuing you," Nyssa voiced.

This wasn't the first time she'd heard this idea. Sara had brought it up before, but Felicity was fairly sure that she'd fall even /more/ than she already had been doing. She really wasn't sure how badly you could bruise yourself, but she had a feeling she was going to find out before she got to go home. She had learned how to deal with the pain a lot better than when she'd first gotten there, so Felicity felt like that was a sort of win.

Felicity tilted her head. "Maybe /later/," she said and hoped that she could put it off. She'd seen some of the others run the obstacle course in pairs...it wasn't just a matter of getting through the course...it was also running it with weapons and weapons being fired at you. It wasn't like they were using Nerf, either. The League of Assassins didn't play around, when they trained...things were pointy and could get you dead if you weren't careful.

"I promise you, you would surprise yourself," Nyssa told her. "But perhaps later…"

She hoped that this wasn't going to spur another confidence lecture, but with Nyssa...she was fairly sure that it was guaranteed. Nyssa had some kind of twisted idea of her and how she could pretty much take on the rest of the League that were working out around them, but Felicity was confident in the fact that she wasn't Nyssa al Ghul and she'd just end up killed. Felicity preferred to continue breathing...and for all her limbs to remain intact. Not bleeding was also a plus.

"Maybe Sara could chase me around and laugh at me when she's back later," Felicity put out there. That was a lot less terrifying.

"I wasn't thinking of using Sara-"

"Which is why I proposed her," Felicity interrupted with a small smile.

Nyssa didn't seem amused. "I promised to train you properly. I intend to keep that promise."

"Whether it kills me or not," she muttered as she walked past Nyssa.

. . .

Felicity was wondering if they were going to ever be finished training today. Normally they would have been done by now. Even all of the super awesome assassins that she sometimes thought could kick Nyssa's ass, that is usually until Nyssa kicks his in front of her, had left. The day had dragged on and training lasting longer than normal wasn't helping. She was starting to think that she'd have a hard time getting out of bed the next day, her limbs might just not move in the morning if this continued much longer.

"Nyssa…" she started to complain and it was bordering on whining. Felicity knew that Nyssa hated whining, but she couldn't help it, she was done. Without Sara there to cut in, Felicity was fairly certain that she was going to drop before Nyssa loosened up.

But there was no let up.

The training continued…

Felicity was actually starting to feel more confident about her hand to hand skills as she continued past the point she didn't think she could go with Nyssa. They were getting close to the point where one of them would be on the floor, which would most certainly be /her/. She was full in concentration just the same, but when she heard that voice…

/His/ voice.

All focus moved from what she was doing with Nyssa to search for him. She was certain that she hadn't imagined it or hallucinated it. It was like it clicked in her head; Sara had left that day…to get Oliver. She'd promised her that she'd contact Oliver and that Felicity would go home…and it seemed like that was just what she'd done.

Felicity's eyes came upon Oliver and almost immediately was smacked in the face by Nyssa and then met the floor, her eyes staring up at the ceiling. The breath was knocked out of her and she could hear Sara and Oliver shouting at Nyssa, but the only thing that came out of her mouth, once she could breath correctly again, was laughter.

She could see the extremely worried face on Oliver as he hovered over Nyssa's shoulder. Nyssa, in turn, moved a few moments later before Oliver had to pull her off. "I'm okay! I'm okay!" she told Oliver with a clear smile on her face. "That was a new personal best…at least it felt like it."

"It looked like it, too!" Sara chimed in.

With Oliver's help, she was back on her feet. Oh how she'd missed him! She really wanted to hug him, but she realized that Nyssa had distanced herself. Her hands ran down Oliver's chest for a moment and she smiled at him. "I missed you," she told him. She waited a moment before moving herself from Oliver and towards Nyssa. "We could go again," Felicity told Nyssa. She watched as Nyssa looked towards Sara, who wasn't too far away.

"I think we're done for today," Nyssa said as she looked between Felicity and Oliver.

Felicity frowned a bit as she looked between Nyssa and Oliver. There was obvious tension there. No one could miss that. She didn't know what to think or what to say to make any of it easier.

"I think it's time for dinner anyways," Sara said. "Why don't we find Oliver a room and you two can catch up? I'll even bring dinner to you…"

"I hadn't planned on staying longer than we needed to," Oliver told her.

Felicity frowned and nodded towards Sara. "I think that would be nice." She moved back to Oliver and rested her hand on his arm as she stared at him. "The thing is… It's too late to head down to the city now." She looked towards Sara and Nyssa. "Right?"

Sara nodded. "It would be too dangerous."

Felicity looked back to him. "So, we'll stay tonight… Dinner is going to be excellent, so really…we wouldn't want to skip that. Definitely not like what they serve at the local Chinese restaurant back home…"

"Fine," he said finally. His tone was quiet and even, there was only a hint of irritation.

. . .

"We should go."

"Did you miss the whole part where there was an agreement about the level of danger?" Felicity questioned as she followed Oliver as he moved around the room and was obviously looking to see if there was any other way out other than the obvious. "They're not just going to say that!"

"Felicity-"

"Maybe I don't want to go."

That definitely got him to stop. He froze and then turned to her and didn't look very happy with her. She'd gotten what she'd wanted, though. He'd stopped. There was a knock and then Sara was popping in a moment later, her normal cheery self, as she carried in food. Felicity could tell that Sara had picked up on the tension and just left the food on the table without a word, but Felicity felt the need to prove a point before Sara was gone.

"I could stay, if I wanted to, right?"

Sara froze and turned back towards Felicity, she wasn't smiling anymore. She looked confused. Felicity knew that this wasn't going to help Oliver feel good about anything, but she needed him to /know/ that she could stay /if/ she really wanted. Of course, she was ready to go home...but that wasn't the point.

"Right?" Felicity prompted.

"Ra's al Ghul would require for you to prove yourself," Sara said slowly. "To join the League of Assassins…"

"But if I could do it."

"Yes," Sara whispered.

"Thank you, I'll see you in a little bit," Felicity said with a slight nod. She could tell Sara wasn't thrilled with the conversation, but she left them alone without another word. Felicity turned back to Oliver and he didn't seem any more thrilled about what was going on around him. "Oliver…"

"Would you stay?" he asked.

She sighed. "No."

"Then why-"

"To prove to you that I have a choice… I know you seem to forget that sometimes. You get too concerned about coming in as the white knight to my rescue-"

"That's not what I had meant," Oliver told her sincerely.

Felicity sat down and motioned for Oliver to come and sit with her. "I know you're not a fan of Nyssa or the League… They've kept me safe, though."

"Sara-"

"Sara, too."

"Felicity-"

"/I missed you/," she finally said as she stared at him. He was quiet and he moved to sit down next to her. "I was just happy that they got to me in time."

"So am I," he said as he finally sat down with her. His eyes never left hers. "Sara has caught me up on what happened… What I've missed."

"There were others taken from Starling City...from the surrounding area," Felicity told him. She still thought about the other people that had been there, but she had had it explained to her that there was really nothing they could do. Not now.

"I've already made a call to Detective Lance… He's compiling a list of missing persons and is going to try to forward the list to the appropriate people," Oliver told her gently. "For now, hopefully that'll help things… Detective Lance is also happy to hear that you're safe. I'm to make sure that he sees you when we get back.'

"How exactly did that conversation go over?" she asked curiously with a tilt of her head.

Oliver smiled a little. "You mean because he's not supposed to know that I'm the Arrow?"

Felicity nodded.

"He thinks that I just think that Sara is vacationing here…"

"Clever."

"I think it's sort of sad," Oliver admitted. "We all have to find a way to sell our lies to people who sometimes I think deserve to know what's really going on."

"Honestly?" Felicity asked. "I really don't think that you /or/ I can manage to sell /most/ things that we have to lie about."

He grinned. "That's why we have Diggle."

"John," she sighed and beamed. "I've missed both of my guys."

"/Your guys/?" he teased.

She nodded with a smile. "/My guys/."

"I'm pretty sure I can speak for Diggle...and even Roy when I say, we've missed you."

"Roy's still around?" she asked. Felicity knew she wasn't hiding her shock, but there was a reason for it. "Haven't managed to put another arrow into him?"

"Ha...ha...ha…" Oliver commented a little dryly. "No."

Felicity grinned. "Well, it's good to know that things didn't completely fall apart without me there."

"I think Diggle might say it did."

She was quiet and could see that he actually /meant/ it. Felicity was sure that things had been hard, on all of them, but she'd not really expected to have such an upset Oliver. She could see it in his eyes. Her smile had completely faded and she was just staring at him. "I /wanted/ to come home right away," she told him and found her arms wrapping around him. Felicity's chin rested on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and savored the feeling of his arms around her. This didn't happen often, but she was glad that it was happening now and she couldn't believe how much she'd missed it. "But maybe it's best that this happened…"

"Felicity-"

"You saw me get my ass kicked by Nyssa…" Felicity told him. "Again." She paused for a moment. "But maybe I needed to come here… For Sara and Nyssa to train me." He pulled back from her and they were both quiet for a moment. "We both know that I'm more valuable to the team /if/ I can defend myself more."

"You /are/ valuable...even without that."

"I know," Felicity told him. "But it would be nice not to worry about being a liability."

"I don't think of you that way," he whispered and she could see that he seemed almost hurt.

"I know," she whispered and a small smile came to her face. "But I do...sometimes," she admitted and she could see guilt hit his face. She fidgeted with her hands. Felicity shrugged. "You know everyone else can do something out in the field, but if there's no computer, then I'm useless...or bait...and /normally/ we both tend to agree that me being bait is a bad plan."

"You're perfect just how you are."

Felicity smiled at him. Oliver Queen, he really did know how to sweep a girl off of her feet with just the right things to say. She would give him that. "But /now/ I'm a little more better…"

"More better?"

"Okay, so I might have oversold it."

They both laughed and Felicity motioned toward the food. "It really /is/ good. We should eat before it's ice cold."

"Are you going to tell me about your training?"

"As long as you don't plan on glaring at Nyssa tomorrow.../or/ decide to whisk me off this mountain tomorrow first thing."

Oliver sighed. "Maybe I can promise that."

"Maybe?"

Oliver shrugged. "I'm sure you can convince me."

. . .

TBC...


	4. Don't Judge

"Going home will certainly be an adventure," Sara commented. She moved her attention from Felicity. Sara had noticed (and she was certain that it hadn't escaped Felicity's notice either) that both Oliver and Nyssa had pretty much glaring at each other all breakfast. She and Felicity were the only ones partaking in conversation. "Right, Ollie?"

Silence.

She exchanged looks with Felicity. Sara watched as Felicity nudged Oliver.

"What?"

"Sara was asking you a question," Felicity told him.

"She was?" he asked Felicity. After a moment, he turned his attention to Sara. "You did?"

"I was asking if you're taking the scenic route back to Starling City," Sara explained. "I'm sure Felicity would enjoy the adventure."

"I'm not sure 'adventure' is the right word."

The last time she and Nyssa had travelled from Starling City, they'd taken the long route. There was definitely something special about traveling the world that way. It wasn't always safe, but it was certainly a worldly experience. Sara personally thought that it would be good for Felicity, but also for Oliver.

"I think it would be good for you two," Sara commented.

"How much of the world have you seen?" Nyssa asked Felicity.

"Not…much…" Felicity said slowly as she looked between everyone. "I mean, I've gone to Russia…for like a mission we were doing…not like I got to walk around and take pictures or anything… And I've been to Lian Yu twice now…"

Sara just turned and gave Oliver a look. She was certain that he'd get the idea as to /why/ she was giving him that look. They'd known each other for long enough.

"Anyways, isn't it about time for training?" Felicity asked cheerfully.

"Your training is over here," Nyssa spoke up. Sara noticed that she almost sounded cold. Nyssa normally was stern, but never cold when it came to Felicity.

"But you made me a promise."

"He can train you now," Nyssa said as her head motioned towards Oliver.

Felicity seemed upset and Sara honestly just didn't know what to say. Sara knew that Felicity was going to have to go home to Starling City, but at the same time...she didn't want to just kick them out. It was nice for her to have Felicity there...and even moody Oliver. She loved Nyssa, but she missed having friends around and feeling a little more human when she was just surrounded by assassins.

"But /you/ made me a /promise/," Felicity told her.

Sara caught Felicity looking between Nyssa and Oliver before finally settling her eyes on Sara. She let out a sigh. "You /did/ make her a promise Nyssa-"

Nyssa was immediately speaking to Sara in a language that was not English and though Sara understood...and she was fairly sure Oliver had, but Felicity was in the dark. Sara noticed that Felicity still seemed upset and now possibly confused. Felicity had picked up /some/ words, but Sara was fairly sure that Felicity hadn't picked up anything Nyssa said...though she could probably guess from the tone. Sara opened her mouth to argue with Nyssa, when Felicity cut them all off.

"Right! I swear you three can make me feel utterly stupid sometimes," Felicity told them. "If anyone's ready to communicate /with/ me in a language that I can actually understand… I'm going to go out with all the assassins...and hopefully none of them decide to try to spar with me…"

"Nyssa, it wouldn't hurt for them to stay another day," Sara spoke up and gave Oliver a hard look. "I'm sure you can convince Ra's that Oliver being here another day and under /our/ watchful eye isn't going to undermine anything."

Nyssa stared at her for a long moment. "He is /your/ responsibility," Nyssa told her before leaving the room with Felicity.

"/Why/ did you do that?" Oliver asked once the door was closed.

Sara took a deep breath before speaking. "Because it was the /right thing/ to do, Ollie," she told him gently. "Nyssa /did/ promise Felicity that she'd be able to defend herself better the next time-"

"There's /not/ going to be a /next/ time," Oliver ground out.

She tilted her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "I know that's what you /want/...and honestly, I would prefer that too, but let's be serious...and realistic about that expectation," Sara said. "Felicity has been targeted before… She's been linked to not only Oliver Queen, but the Arrow. It would do her good to know how to defend herself," Sara told him. "And I would /think/ that you'd encourage it."

"She's-"

"She's important to you," Sara said before he could even think to stumble over a good reason. "I know that."

"Sara-"

"She's okay, Ollie," Sara said gently. She approached him and reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. Her eyes met his and she tried to reiterate that point. "/Felicity's okay/."

Oliver was quiet for a moment and he seemed to be carrying weight on his shoulders. More than normal. "When Felicity first joined us," he said quietly. "I hadn't meant to recruit her… I meant for her to be in the dark about things, so she had deniability, just in case… I had never wanted to put her in danger." He paused again. "Diggle even asked me if I was sure and I told him that we could protect her… I was confidant…"

"You can't protect us all, Ollie," Sara said gently. "And she /wants/ to learn…"

"What if that makes her /more/ of a target?" Oliver asked.

"What if it makes her more confidant?"

They were both quiet for a long while.

Sara spoke first. "She can handle it, Ollie. Trust me. I like Felicity, I don't want anything bad to happen to her because of something Nyssa or I would have done. What we've done… How she's been trained… She's going to be a lot safer in Starling City, even /if/ she /is/ a target."

"She's a good person."

"I know," Sara told him quietly. A smile slipped across her face. "Let's face it Ollie, she's better than both of us...and pretty much every person I can think of."

Oliver smiled finally. "You're right."

"Why don't I give you a tour? Then we can check in on Felicity and Nyssa? By then it'll nearly be lunch time." She paused for a moment. "See! The day's already flying by!"

. . .

"Before we see them…I just want to make sure that you're not going to flip out," Sara said as she stopped him. She'd managed to occupy him for a lot longer than she'd originally thought was possible. Now they were about to be back with Felicity and Nyssa and she wanted to try to avoid any further...awkward tense moments.

"The bruising on her arms and legs didn't have me flipping out," Oliver pointed out.

Sara tilted her head. That was a good point. She really hadn't thought too much about it because well, it wasn't like they'd been beating Felicity...it had been training, which was mostly different. "I'm just saying… I hope you take her back to Starling and you train her down in the Foundry with Digg. I really do! I just...we've been showing her some moves that will especially help her given her size-"

"I trust you, Sara," he said quietly. "I just-" Oliver sighed. "I just wanted to keep her safe."

"I know."

"I fail-"

"You didn't," Sara told him. "You've made her stronger."

"You and Nyssa did that."

"No, Ollie. /You/ did that. Felicity did that."

After another moment, Sara finally led him to the training area and just hoped that they wouldn't walk in on Nyssa nailing Felicity to the floor again. That was all that they needed, she really wasn't sure if Oliver would be able to contain herself then. But they didn't find them working on hand to hand combat, instead Felicity had a bow out.

"You-"

"She wanted to!" Sara found herself defending herself quickly.

"How good is she?"

"Look and see," Sara told him as she motioned back to the room.

. . .

TBC…


	5. Nanda Parbat

Her concentration was solely on Nyssa and trying to figure out her next move, anticipating what would come next. The hand to hand wasn't so bad because Felicity knew at one point that she'd end up on the mat and it was likely that Nyssa would prove her point on how she could end her life, if she'd wanted. She was getting so much better, though, and Felicity knew that deep down. She kept reminding herself that her teacher was a master assassin…was there really anyone better to teach her?

As much as she would have loved Oliver and Diggle to be the ones to really train her, it was probably so much better that she'd not only been taught by master assassins but also women. There was so much understanding in what she was capable of and yet the techniques they were using and teaching her were perfect for her size and how to fight against people larger than her. Felicity hoped to never have to really use those skills except maybe to spar with the guys back home, but it was for her peace of mind. She wanted to be able to defend herself if she needed to in the future. She didn't want to be a damsel in distress.

Nyssa helped her up off the mat they'd been practicing on. "You have learned so much in a short time," Nyssa told her. Felicity knew that that was high praise coming from her.

"I feel like there's still a lot for me to learn," Felicity told her honestly.

"There is always something to learn." Nyssa paused. "And when you return home, you will continue to have a qualified teacher…who will likely be softer on you than I have been."

Felicity looked over to see Oliver and Sara standing not too far away. She hadn't noticed their entrance, but that was probably a good thing. She probably would have hit the floor and 'been killed' a lot earlier than she had. "That is…if he'll continue to teach me."

"I will," Oliver promised.

She smiled. It seemed like Sara had smoothed over some of Oliver's rough edges during their walk. Felicity knew that a lot had gone on in the last year and Oliver was just dealing with a lot, but she didn't feel right if they left and there were bad feelings between the three of them (or well, mostly Nyssa and Oliver).

"We should go over some more of your training," Nyssa told Felicity. "There is still time before dinner. This will be a good way for your skills to be on display. He should know what you know…what you've been trained…"

"That doesn't seem like it'll take all that long," Sara told Nyssa.

"I have other ideas," Nyssa said mysteriously.

Felicity opened her mouth for a moment and then closed it again. She made a face and then looked around. She moved towards one of the weapons racks on the side of the rooms nearest to where she was standing. Since they were basically showcasing what she'd learned so far from Nyssa and Sara, she felt like the bow was the next logical step.

She ignored the others and just assumed that the others were watching her. Felicity was probably most nervous of Nyssa and Oliver watching. She knew that Sara wouldn't care either way, but the other two were definitely judging her in different ways. Stringing the arrow, she readied her bow, aimed, breathed, and then let the arrow fly. It hit pretty close to where she was hoping to hit. She thought that that was fairly impressive; she just hoped that Oliver and Nyssa did as well. Taking a moment, she sucked in breath before picking up another arrow and starting again. Again and again, she shot arrows across the room until the container on the floor that held the arrows was empty. It wasn't until then that she looked over at those watching.

Oliver was still staring at the target and then when his gaze swung over to her, she noticed that his mouth was hanging slightly open. He looked absolutely speechless.

"She could aim better," Nyssa criticized.

Felicity knew that she wasn't being cruel; she was saying it because she'd made a point of explaining that she would only say something in order to correct and better Felicity's skills. At first, it had been hard to take though now she'd become used to it and it was basically a 'try better next time'. She could take those corrections and apply them.

"I…was…impressed," Oliver said and he almost looked a little confused.

"Good!" Sara said after a moment with a lot of excitement. "There's still the obstacle course…"

Felicity looked right at Sara and made a face. "You really want to knock me down a few pegs after that, don't you?" she asked as she motioned to where all the arrows were in the target. The obstacle course was fun, but it was also just a lot to deal with.

Sara shrugged with a smile. "Come on! You can do it!"

"Are the scary assassins going to be hiding in it?" Felicity asked. She looked over at Oliver. "I swear then it turns into this 90s kids show."

"Legends of the Hidden Temple," Oliver said.

"What?"

"That's what it was called…"

"You would have likely been good at it."

Oliver shook his head. "No. Not as a kid…"

Felicity shrugged. "Probably better than me."

"Digg would have been probably the best…besides Nyssa," Sara spoke up.

Nyssa just looked confused and Felicity smiled. "I'm taking the bow with me if you're not telling me if this obstacle course is rigged with ninjas—"

"We're assassins," Nyssa corrected.

"They're wearing black and they're stealthy," Felicity told Nyssa as she pulled on a quiver. She grabbed her bow and headed for where the course was. The others followed and Felicity was glad that she had her hair pulled back and up into a ponytail. She still wasn't sure how Sara and Nyssa did all their assassin awesomeness with their hair down and flying around.

"Don't worry, I'll hold him back," Sara told her.

Oliver looked confused, but that was okay. "I can do this," she told herself, but she was also trying to reassure them. She was ready. Felicity had run this course before by herself and while being attacked and pursued by the assassins. It wasn't easy, but it was sort of fun.

When they got to the beginning of the course outside, she readied herself. First, Felicity took a breath and then started to go through what she'd been taught. One of those things being to take in her surroundings. She'd run this course before and she knew what to look for and where they hid, if they were there. She was off and running and moving through the obstacle course. Felicity was at least prepared when the first one jumped out at her.

She didn't know if it was the peer pressure because she knew that Nyssa, Sara, and Oliver were all watching her or if she'd just improved that much, but Felicity was doing well. Felicity had made it nearly completely through the obstacle course. She'd never finished it before with assassins hidden within it. Right now, she had three guys still chasing after her, but she'd learned stamina. The end of the course was in sight and she had a good feeling as to where the others where hidden in between her and the end. Felicity pulled her bow, had an arrow ready, and started to shoot. They all wore body armor, so she didn't have to really be worried about injuring any of them. Her goal right now was to finish the course.

Felicity whispered a few words of frustration in Chinese under her breath as she hopped over an obstacle and shot off another arrow. Her heart was pounding and the sound of it filled her ears as she pushed herself to keep going. Her legs hurt and she really didn't feel like she could physically make it, but told herself that she was going to do it.

Focus.

Breathe.

Do it.

She found herself launching herself off of one of the obstacles and towards the wall that was the final thing she had to make it over. Normally, she would fight with the rope, but she felt like if she could get up high enough that she could make it all the way up the wall and over it without getting caught. That was her goal, to finish and to win. Felicity started to slide down for a moment, but she quickly made up for it. She was up and over the wall without double-checking to see where her pursuers were.

When her feet hit the ground, she had an arrow ready for the final guy coming at her and made it across the finish line before finally crashing. She fell over and she heard Oliver's worried voice calling her name. Felicity gave a brief and exhausted wave from her position on the ground as she stared up at the sky and tried to catch her breath.

They were all hovering over her a moment later. Oliver looked concerned, Nyssa seemed proud, and Sara was smiling and laughing. Felicity took the water that Sara offered her and slowly sipped it. She didn't think she had that in her and she was glad that she did it all at the same time.

"Perhaps the four of us should take to the course," Nyssa suggested.

Felicity huffed. "Like maybe in an hour when I can breathe again…"

Sara beamed more. "You did great! I knew you could do it!"

"I think you were the only one," Felicity said tiredly as she sipped more water. She looked to see Nyssa talking to the gathered assassins that had gathered once she'd finished. Some of them even had arrows sticking out of them.

"Sometimes that's a good thing," Sara told her. "Gives you an advantage."

"Fifteen minutes," Nyssa said. "And then we run it in pairs."

"Pairs?" Oliver questioned as he looked between them.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," Sara told him.

"I'm going to die," Felicity mumbled.

. . .

It seemed like they were all absolutely famished. It was most likely from all the working they'd done on the course. It had gone on far longer than Felicity's run. Felicity was fairly sure that Oliver was going to have to carry her home in the morning because she didn't know if her legs would be able to hold her weight or if they'd be noodle-y and fail.

"I wanted to apologize," Oliver started and everyone turned their attention to him. "Nyssa, I didn't give you a chance… I should have known better. You have shown that you can be trusted and I should have trusted you."

Nyssa merely nodded in acknowledgement. She was quiet and at first, Felicity didn't think that Nyssa was going to say anything in response. After all, she'd noticed that the woman chose her words carefully. She wasn't one to ramble and she wasn't one to speak when she didn't know the exact and proper words to say. "I understand why you were so upset. I would have felt the same way if I were in your position."

Now Oliver seemed extremely confused. "Thank…you…"

"I'm happy that we were also in the right place at the right time," Nyssa told him. She looked towards Felicity. "It was good being able to learn from you, Felicity."

"L-l-learn?" Felicity blurted out.

Nyssa nodded. "Yes. I believe that everyone we meet teaches us something new. You taught me something…maybe something that I didn't think that I needed to learn. You will be missed."

Sara nodded in agreement. "I'm going to miss you, too. You make things a little more…entertaining…and fun around here."

"I hope that you both know that if in the future that you should need our help that you may contact us," Nyssa said. "We will be there when you need us."

"I appreciate that," Oliver said.

"Even if I don't quite understand your tactics."

Felicity smiled. "Well, we all learn from each other, right? Sometimes there's another way to do things and some times it just works."

. . .

Morning seemed to come too quickly and Felicity found herself crying as they were leaving. No matter how long she'd been in Nanda Parbat or how long she might have been there, Felicity didn't think that the League of Assassins were ever going to take away her emotional side. She hugged Nyssa tightly and really didn't want to leave. Maybe it was because it was safe or maybe she sort of felt like she was useful there…or maybe she just didn't feel like her training was over…but she just didn't want to leave.

She had to though.

"I'm going to miss you."

Nyssa spoke words in her ear in Chinese as they embraced and Felicity nodded. Nyssa pulled away after a moment, so that Felicity was arm's length away. "No matter what. You continue your training," Nyssa told her in English and loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I will," Felicity promised and reached up and wiped more tears away. She was a mess, she knew, but it was hard leaving people that you felt were part of your family even if you hadn't known them for so long. Nyssa and Sara would be forever a part of her family as far as she was concerned.

Sara hugged her tightly and she was crying now too. She was the reason why Felicity had been able to keep sane during this whole time. Sara had kept Nyssa from pushing her so much and she'd been her rock. Sara was easy for her to relate to, at least compared to Nyssa. She'd been understanding and had been able to slow things down when it was needed and to really show her how to make it all come together.

"You keep him in line," Sara told her.

Felicity laughed and Sara joined in a moment later. They both turned and looked at Oliver. "I will."

"What?" Oliver asked.

Sara grabbed her and hugged her again, her fingers running through Felicity's hair. She was really going to miss her. She'd miss both of them, but there was something about Sara…maybe it was because she reminded Felicity of Oliver sometimes. Felicity wished that they could both come back to Starling City with them on a permanent basis.

After a minute more of hugging, Sara released her and Felicity moved over to Oliver's side. She hadn't realized that Nyssa had left until she was standing there and wondering where the other woman had gone. She arrived back a moment later and with a bow in her hands. "A gift," Nyssa told her and held out the bow to Felicity.

"Thank you," she said and took the offered gift. Felicity looked to Oliver. "Am I going to have to worry about taking this through customs?"

Oliver smirked. "No."

Felicity smiled and then flung herself at Nyssa, holding the bow off to the side. "Thank you!"

"Practice," Nyssa told her and gently pushed her away after a moment.

"I will. I promise."

Nyssa now turned her attention to Oliver. Her mood seemed to change and so did her tone. It was harsh and short. "I expect you to keep a better eye on her. You care about her, you should be protecting her—"

"I was at home," Felicity interrupted and then received a quick glare for her efforts. She frowned deeply. She highly doubted that Oliver expected to receive a lecture before they left.

"You were lucky this time," Nyssa told Oliver quite coldly. "We were at the right place at the right time. We were able to save her. We're giving her back to you, but if something happens…don't expect us to give her back to you another time."

It was quiet for what seemed like ten minutes, but Felicity was sure that it couldn't have been more than two minutes. What did you say after that? Felicity didn't blame Oliver. It wasn't like she'd been kidnapped from the Foundry with Diggle and Oliver right there and they'd just been unable to keep someone from taking her. She'd been home…alone…and then she'd walked out of her house into a well-designed trap.

"They should probably be going," Sara said finally.

Nyssa gave them a silent nod before turning and leaving.

"Okay," Oliver said quietly.

"Well, I am going to miss you too, Ollie," Sara said after a moment and hugged him. "But Nyssa is right. Keep Felicity safe." Sara turned to Felicity and mouthed 'and keep him safe'.

Felicity smiled and gave her a nod.

"I feel like there's some kind of conspiracy going on that I don't know about," he said as he looked between the two of them.

After another minute and another round of goodbyes, they headed away from the League of Assassins nest. They were going to have a long journey home and Felicity was more than okay with that. She positioned the bow, so that it rested against her body and hung in place. "They mean well," she said after some time.

"I'm pretty sure that Nyssa wanted to keep you," Oliver said. "And Sara."

Felicity smiled. "I'm going to miss them."

"If you don't want to go back—"

"No! No! I do!" Felicity said quickly. "Don't get me wrong. It was a great…experience… But it's just not me. I'm not cut out to be part of the League of Assassins unless they need an IT girl. Maybe I could set up a website for them?"

Oliver laughed.

"Okay, so maybe not."

"I can tell you that you were missed at home," Oliver told her.

Felicity smiled. "I missed all of you, too."

Oliver grabbed her hand and stopped her. Felicity stopped and turned to look at him. His hands came up to lift her chin slightly. "I missed you," he whispered. Felicity wasn't sure what to think, but Oliver made it very clear a moment later when his lips embraced hers.

. . .

TBC…


	6. Life Skills

Their trip had certainly taken longer than was needed. He knew that, but he was fairly sure that he just needed that time. Oliver had used that time, not only to take an extremely long and scenic route home, but also to really think about what he wanted in life.

"It's about damn time!"

Oliver turned his attention to the Foundry entrance. He pushed forward a smile as Diggle and Roy came into view. It had been a little over a month since he'd seen either of them. "Were you getting tired of wearing the hood?" he teased.

"More like Roy's been moping around like some emo kid," Diggle told him as he moved forward and hugged Oliver.

"I'm still proud you know that word even if I'm not emo. By the way, no one uses that term anymore," Roy said. "I was just incredibly bored. You treat me like a kid."

"You ARE a kid," Oliver and Diggle said together as they moved away from each other.

Oliver moved towards Roy and held out a hand. "It's good to see you again."

"You have no idea how thrilled I am that you're back," Roy said quietly as he shook Oliver's hand.

"He's just upset I didn't let him wear your hood," Diggle told him. He paused. "Where's Felicity?"

Oliver turned back to look at Diggle. "She wanted to shower, but she didn't want to wait longer to see you."

"I guess it's good timing that I was just ordered to scrub the bathroom," Roy said.

Oliver smiled at Diggle.

"I'm teaching him life skills," Diggle said. "His future wife will thank me one day."

Oliver let out a quick laugh and then he was quickly silent when she came into sight. Even though he'd made sure that she'd been kept safe, had what she absolutely needed, and had access to full bathroom facilities (including showers) on their trip…he swore that she'd acted as if she'd not seen a shower in over a month. Felicity looked gorgeous and seemed so happy to be back.

"There's our girl," Diggle said as he turned and saw her. He didn't waste any time embracing her.

My girl, Oliver thought.

He wasn't jealous… It was just that things had changed. Before, at the beginning of the year, it had been the three of them. Back then he would have agreed that Felicity was 'their girl'. Not anymore. Oliver had to keep himself from saying anything. They'd just gotten home and he knew that he didn't need to show up and rock the boat.

"You're okay, right?" Diggle asked. Oliver watched, smiling, as Diggle seemed to be looking Felicity over at arm's length.

"I'm great," Felicity told him. She was beaming and Oliver realized that she lit up the Foundry. Without her there, it had seemed so dark to him. He didn't know what would have happened if Sara and Nyssa hadn't saved her. "I think I might even only have one bruise."

Oliver shook his head and just smiled at how proud she seemed at that statement. When they'd left Nanda Parbat, Felicity's limbs had been mottled with brushings from her rigorous training sessions. He'd continued training her on their journey home, but the other bruises had healed and she'd sustained very few new ones. Felicity's skills were still impressive to him and as much as he'd hated all that time that had passed where he had no idea what had happened, he was glad that she had had the opportunity she'd experienced with Sara and Nyssa. As much as he hated to admit it, he wouldn't have done what they had…especially not in that timeframe.

"How many bruises did you have?" Diggle asked.

"Enough that you probably would have thought I was being beaten," Felicity admitted. A moment passed and she raised her hands. "I wasn't, by the way."

There was so much that they'd both have to share with Diggle, but now wasn't the time for the whole story. "We should get you dinner and then take you to settle in at your place," Oliver said. "I'm sure you've missed privacy and space."

"She showered," Roy pointed out as he motioned in the direction of the bathroom. "That was a good five—ten minutes." He paused for a moment. "I mean does she even want to go back there?"

That had actually been the topic of their conversation on the last leg of their journey. He hadn't wanted her to feel unsafe or like she had no other choice. It wasn't like he had the Queen Mansion to shelter her or the Queen Fortune to buy her a new place. In the end, no matter how much he disagreed or hated it, in the end…it was Felicity's decision.

"I'll be fine," Felicity told Roy. "I'll probably spend most of the night catching up on e-mails anyways."

"You shouldn't be alone," Diggle said.

"Oliver already volunteered to stay with me," Felicity informed him. "Plus, I think him sleeping on my couch is slightly better than him sleeping down here on that cot." She paused for a moment. "I figured that you should be home with Lyla…given that you two are still together."

He could already tell the answer before Diggle's words confirmed it. It was the smile. Oliver really felt like Diggle especially deserved to be happy.

"We're going to all have dinner sometime this week," Diggle said quite matter of factly.

"Me too?" Roy asked. The hopefulness in his voice couldn't be missed.

"Don't you and Lyla have a standing deal on dinners?"

Roy sighed. "Why am I always the one who has to wash the dishes after?"

Oliver smirked and patted Roy's shoulder.

"Life skills, Kid. Life skills," Diggle spoke up.

. . .

"Crap."

"Wow…"

"Crap."

"You didn't teach him any new words why we were gone, did you?" Oliver asked in amusement at Roy's inability to say anything else.

"Crap."

"I've been teaching him life skills…not word skills," Diggle told Oliver.

"Crap."

Oliver laughed out loud now. He was definitely watching Roy's face and it seemed like with every arrow that flew and hit the target that was across the Foundry. Felicity had been showing off her new bow skills. So far, it seemed like Roy was beyond impressed.

"Maybe I should have gone to assassin school," Roy mumbled.

Diggle laughed now.

"I think I got jipped. Felicity had the better…and hotter…teachers," Roy continued.

They both laughed now. "You might not want to let Sara or Nyssa hear you saying that."

"Because they're better?" Roy asked Oliver.

"I was referring to the hotter part," Oliver told him. "Also, just remember the fact that the two of them are more dangerous than I am…"

Roy motioned towards Felicity. "But…look what they did…"

"They trained her."

"To be…awesome!"

Diggle laughed.

"He trained me to clean bathrooms…and dishes," Roy complained as he motioned to Diggle now. "I mean, I can shoot…but she's amazing…"

"You haven't seen everything that she learned," Oliver replied. He had a feeling that Roy was going to be even more envious when he saw what else she'd learned. Roy was smart. He had street smarts and he'd learned to fight there, but he was rough around the edges. He was also one who just jumped into a fight sometimes without really thinking through. He lacked discipline, but he was trying to teach him that. Felicity, however, had been trained with that in mind…and purposely to think on her feet.

"Does this mean you're going to have a mask made for her?" Diggle asked as the last arrow was fired and hit perfectly on target.

That was actually not something that Oliver had thought of. The smile dropped off of his face and he crossed his arms over his chest as he really thought about that. He didn't like the idea, but at the same time… He COULD think of reasons WHY she should have a mask and something to conceal her identity and he was sure that Felicity and Diggle could think of more. He knew that it was silly because she'd proved over and over to him that she could protect herself and that she could make her own choices in life, but God…Oliver wanted to protect her. He wanted to keep her safe. Wasn't that only natural? Oliver certainly thought so.

"Anyone for hand to hand?" Felicity asked after she set the bow down and turned towards them.

"Maybe Roy," Diggle suggested.

"What? No…" Roy said as he turned towards Oliver and Diggle. He actually looked a little scared. "I mean, I wouldn't want to hurt her…"

"Right," Diggle said. "Just remember…she went to assassin school…"

"It's okay, we don't have to," Felicity said as she got a drink of water.

"Wait…" Roy blurted out.

"It's okay," Felicity told him.

"No, no," Roy went on. "Don't think that I'm scared."

Felicity seemed to be confused now. Oliver was just amused by Roy's attitude. "I…I just meant not to worry about it… I actually really don't want to spar tonight anyways… I just sort of wanted to get on the computer and get back into my zone."

"Are you really going to be content to go back to your comfy chair and your computer screens? After everything that happened? After everything you learned?" Roy asked.

"Yes?"

"Really?"

Felicity shrugged. "I really don't have an urge to go out and fight crime," she explained. "The only reason why I wanted to learn was to defend myself… Though, I have to say that I find some of it thrilling… That really doesn't mean that I want to wear a hood and a mask and shoot arrows."

"Why not?"

Felicity shrugged again. "I'm good at my job. At being the person at the computer." She paused for a moment and she looked thoughtfully from Roy to Oliver and then back to Roy again. "IF I'm ever needed for back-up…then I'll feel confident that I'll be able to

Roy still seemed confused.

"Just between the two of us," Diggle whispered so that only Oliver could hear. Oliver leaned in just slightly. "Remind me never to piss her off…"

He smirked and nodded. "My thoughts exactly."

"Eventually Roy will catch up."

"Eventually…"

"Life skills."

. . .

"You ready to go home?"

Felicity turned in her computer chair and she wasn't smiling. He wasn't sure how to read her. She looked concerned, but what about? The night had been uneventful. "No…"

"No?"

"I mean, we'll go, of course… It's just that," Felicity rambled. "I've been thinking that maybe I SHOULD find another place…" She was quiet for a moment. "And I was thinking… Since currently you're sort of homeless… Maybe we could find some place together… I mean, there would have to be discussions, of course… We don't even know if we could stand living together—"

"Felicity…"

"It's important—"

"Felicity…"

"I just—"

This time, Oliver offered her his hand. "Felicity…"

She seemed to stop this time as she took his offered hand. Felicity allowed him to help her to her feet before he helped her into her coat. Oliver watched as she swept her ponytail from inside of her coat, so that it hung down the back of it instead before picking up her bag. "I just thought that maybe it's a good idea."

Oliver smiled. "It's the BEST idea."

. . .

The End


End file.
